David Cameron to announce support for minimum alcohol pricing and "drunk tanks"

"He will back such initiatives as "drunk tanks" – one-person cells used to hold troublemakers – and "booze buses" that tour the streets helping incapacitated drinkers. Mr Cameron will say that in the past year there were 200,000 hospital admissions with patients suffering alcohol-related conditions – 40 per cent more than in 2003 – while the number of people treated for extreme drunkenness more than doubled to 18,500." – Independent

"George Osborne faces growing pressure from Conservative MPs and business leaders to produce a show-stopping growth Budget next month… Mark Field, MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, said the Treasury should accelerate its plans for credit easing while John Redwood, former cabinet minister, called for tax cuts for entrepreneurs… Peter Bone, a Tory MP, said it was time to find billions for urgent tax breaks for business" – FT (£)

"Firms also called for tax breaks in next month's Budget after the Chancellor confessed our proud AAA status on international markets was "on the line"." – The Sun

"The Bank of England’s emergency policy of printing billions of pounds of new money will not be enough to restore the economy to a healthy balance" – Daily Telegraph

Credit agency clowns are making life difficult for the Chancellor George Osborne – Jeremy Warner

"Nick Clegg's hopes of faster tax cuts for low earners have been hit by the succession of grim news in the economy. Britain's cherished AAA credit rating is under renewed pressure because of fears over weaker-than-expected growth figures and the impact of the eurozone crisis on this country." - Independent

"Senior Tories, who are unhappy anyway at the way Mr Clegg has tried seize credit as the coalition’s tax-cutter, are warning that this is not the right time for a big tax giveaway. They are telling Mr Osborne to concentrate on cutting National Insurance contributions for employers as a way of spurring growth." – The Times (£)

"Prof Ebdon… is regarded as openly hostile towards the country’s leading universities and has already threatened them with “nuclear” financial penalties. The decision has angered Conservative MPs who believe that Mr Cameron has “caved into” Liberal Democrat pressure on an issue that threatens to undermine education standards. A senior Conservative source said: “This appointment threatens the standards in some of the country’s, and therefore the world’s, best universities. The Prime Minister agrees and needs to put his foot down.”" - Daily Telegraph

"Mr Cameron has always insisted that the Coalition will govern in the national interest: it cannot be solely about pacifying the Liberal Democrats. He has impressed most when he has been bold in his decisions – there is time yet for boldness over Prof Ebdon." - Daily Telegraph editorial

Dumbing down of state education has made Britain more unequal than 25 years ago - Toby Young

Report says NHS reforms will lead to reduced patient care and over-spending

"The government's health reforms run a high risk of reducing levels of safety and patient care while leading to overspending, internal NHS reports have warned. The potential for conflict between NHS organisations in the new system and upheaval during the transition is high, according to risk assessments drawn up by the four English NHS regions." - Guardian

"A security adviser for the Prime Minister was among those who said all options should be considered, including sending Qatada back to Jordan regardless of a European court ruling that he should not be sent… It came as the Jordan justice minister Ayman Odeh promised Qatada would be given a new and fair trial with no evidence gained from torture." – Daily Telegraph

"Some might be concerned that ordinary Syrians would suffer hardship as a result of a total economic embargo. That cannot be denied, but it would be preferable to all the bloodshed that would be part of a protracted civil war… Closing the air space around Syria, combined with a naval blockade, would also stop most of the arms supplies. The international community must not be mesmerised by the Russian and Chinese UN vetoes. There is much that can and should be done to end the suffering of the Syrian people." – Sir Malcolm Rifkind for the Daily Telegraph

"Defiant peers have narrowly voted again to demand that the government drop plans to cut housing benefit for claimants in under-occupied homes. The peers voted by 236 to 226, even though the Commons had last week rejected a similar amendment from the Lords" - Guardian

Falklands tension set to rise with visit of defence committee MPs

"Members of the defence select committee are expected to visit military installations on the islands, where a garrison of more than 1,000 troops is stationed at Mount Pleasant Complex, 35 miles (56km) from the capital, Stanley. The MPs will also visit the crews who are manning the RAF aircraft on the islands." - Guardian

Union threatens to turn off the taps for Miliband

"Ed Miliband is facing the threat of an open break with one of Labour's biggest union backers because of his refusal to promise to end the public pay freeze. Delegates to the annual conference of Britain's third biggest union, the GMB general union, will hold a vote on whether to put an end to the formal link with the Labour Party – a move that would deal a body blow to the party's already flimsy financial base." – Independent

Scottish independence question causing people "confusion and concern"

"The Scottish Affairs Committee will call on the Government to clarify big questions about a possible break-up of the union… Scotland’s national debt is one of the most pressing issues as there is controversy over whether it would be responsible for debts arising from the bail-out of Edinburgh-based Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS… The Treasury is already working on the potential costs of a break-up, while the Scotland Office has posed a number of questions to Mr Salmond about how he would solve the problems of splitting up shared services." – Daily Telegraph

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